


The Dawn Will Come

by GooseEgg



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, gratuitous reference lmao, i never know what to tag things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-30 22:45:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8552320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GooseEgg/pseuds/GooseEgg
Summary: Days after the Fall of Thessia, Javik alerts Shepard to the presence of another Avatar on the Citadel.





	

Shepard lay in bed, staring up at the skylight above her, the screams of dying Asari still echoing through her head. It had been two days since the Fall of Thessia, and she hadn't slept so much as a wink ever since.

Several of her crew had tried in vain to get her to leave her cabin, even just to walk around the decks and get some fresh air, but all to no avail.

She closed her eyes and the screams grew louder. She could feel her whole body numbing, and then--

 “ _Shepard?”_

 Her eyes snapped open at the sound of EDI's voice.

 “ _I know you are in your quarters, Shepard. Jeff told me.”_

“No, EDI, you can probably see me on sensors. You don't have to lie to make me feel better.”

“ _I disabled all sensors within your quarters some time ago. It felt best not to... snoop.”_

Shepard allowed herself a small smile at her AI companion. “Is there something I can help you with, EDI?”

“ _Javik wishes to speak with you in the refugee bay.”_

“Can it wait? I'm not really--”

“ _I believe he said it was urgent._ ”

Shepard sat up, breathing deeply. Javik typically wasn't one to call for her, much less to call her to the refugee bay. Maybe it was time to break her isolation and rejoin the land of the living.

“ _Shepard? Should I tell him another time?”_

“No.. No, EDI. Tell him... Give me a little bit to shower and I'll meet him at the security checkpoint.”

“ _Very good, Shepard.”_

_\--_

Javik was standing stiffly near the refugee security checkpoint when Shepard stepped off the elevator. A crowd of guards and civilians were watching him from a curious, but polite, distance. One of the turians caught sight of her, and the crowd split down the middle, all eyes on her, their conversation going from a quite murmur to a deafening silence.

She felt her face grow red as she approached Javik. He turned to face her, all four of his eyes staring right into hers in that slightly alarming fashion she doubted she'd ever grow accustomed to.

“Commander. Thank you for coming. I believe there is something you need to see.”

Shepard sighed. “What is it, Javik? Can't C-Sec handle this? Or James? Or Ashley?”

“This does not concern them.”

There was an awkward silence, as Shepard debated turning her back to the Prothean and returning to her quarters. His eyes stared into hers, and she felt herself inclined to stay.

“Okay. All right. What is it?”

Javik brushed past her and walked towards the elevator. “Come.” The crowd parted to let him through, a different parting than when Shepard had arrived moments before. Javik stepped into the elevator and turned to face Shepard. “Commander. Come. Time is of the essence.”

Begrudgingly, Shepard stepped into the elevator with him. The doors closed, and there was a lurch as it took off.

“Where are we going?”

“Shepard, as you know, there were many Avatars in Prothean society. I am the last. The Avatar of Vengeance.”

“Hard not to be the last Avatar when you're also the last Prothean, but okay.”

Javik made a noise Shepard could almost convince herself was a laugh.

“The idea of the Avatar was simple. One Prothean embodying a single virtue for the whole of our society.”

Shepard leaned her head against the elevator wall, the vibrations almost soothing. “Yes, Javik, I remember. Please do spare the exposition.”

The elevator came to a halt and the doors opened. “I believe there is another Avatar in this cycle.”

Her head whipped round to look at the Prothean. “What.”

“Come.” Javik stepped out of the elevator, his stride long and purposeful. Shepard, weary and hungry, struggled to keep pace.

“Javik. Where are we going? What is going on? How is there another Avatar?”

Javik came to an abrupt halt outside a pile of prefab crates. “This is Docking Bay B-22. It is a temporary refugee encampment that has been repurposed as a place of worship for all species. We will find the Avatar inside.”

“The Avatar came to the Citadel to go to space church?”

Javik opened the makeshift door. “Please, Commander. Step inside.”

\--

The first thing Shepard noticed was the diversity in the crowd. Batarians sat next to turians sat next to krogan sat next to salarians. Hanar and elcor in the corners of the room. A drell woman kneeling on a prayer mat, and even a few humans. Shepard stepped to the side to allow Javik to move into the room. She leaned over to him.

“I don't see a Prothean here, Javik,” she whispered.

Javik shook his head slowly. “I never said a Prothean, Commander. Look around. Use your eyes and ears. What do you see. What do you hear?”

Wiping the fatigue from her eyes, Shepard looked around the room again, her ears trying to pick out individual voices.

On the far wall of the dimly lit room was a face she recognized. A much younger face than last time she'd seen it.

Her own face.

At that, she was finally able to pick out a single voice to listen to; a human's, sitting in the corner.

“ _Shadows fall, and hope has fled. Steel your heart, the dawn will come._ ”

She picked out another voice, and another, and another. All were singing the same hymn, even the elcor, in their strained monotonous way. She looked at Javik.

“I don't understand.”

“It's you, Commander. These people look to you in this war. You are their champion. The dawn they sing of. You are the Avatar of Hope.”

Shepard looked back at all the people, dozens of species all gathered in one place to find solace in this trying time.

“Thank you for showing me this, Javik.”

“I did only what I thought was necessary to rouse you from this pathetic episode, Commander.”

“Ah, yes. There's the Javik we know and love.”

“Indeed. Good day, Commander.”

With that, Javik turned and left, leaving Shepard in the makeshift temple. A few minutes later, she left herself, ready to sleep for the first time in days.

**Author's Note:**

> Let's be honest, with the number of references to DA in ME and vice versa, I wouldn't be surprised if The Dawn Will Come was a hymn in the Mass Effect universe.


End file.
